History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 204

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 204

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Col. David Williamson owned a tract of four hun- dred acres of land in the extreme southern part of Independence, but he never lived upon it. He first sold a part of it to Arthur Scott in July, 1802, and William Haggerty afterwards purchased the remain- der. Thomas Haggerty, a grandson, now owns one hundred acres of William Haggerty's portion and Barnet Jones the remainder.

James Welch came into this part of Hopewell town-

ship soon after 1788, and settled upon a tract of land adjoining that of Arthur Scott. Mr. Welch married for his first wife Agnes Smith, a daughter of Joseph Smith, who at her death left her husband one hundred acres of land, which had been her portion of the Smith patent. Mr. Welch was married the second time to Margaret Johnston, a native of Hopewell township. She was born in 1776, on the farm (east of Mount Hope Church) that Thomas McFadden oc- cupies. Two of her brothers, Nimrod and Aaron Johnston, removed to Ohio, where both died at a very advanced age. Mrs. Margaret Welch spent her whole life in this township, and died in 1867. Mr. Welch died in 1840, aged seventy-seven years, leaving a family of ten or twelve children. Several of the sons removed to the West. Aaron Welch lived and died near West Middletown, in Hopewell township, and Abel Johnston Welch still owns and lives on the homestead. The daughter Jane, now Mrs. Jane Hunter, is living here with William Smith, and is eighty-four years of age.

"Levens' Hall" was a two hundred and fifty-three acre body of land in this township, which was pat- ented to Henry Levens, March 28, 1788, adjacent to the lands of John Doddridge and Samuel Teeter, and now possessed by Col. Asa Manchester, Elijah Car- man, and Mr. McMurray. Henry Levens never lived upon this property, but leased it to Jehial Carman, a native of Trenton, N. J. Carman's wife was a niece of Robert McCready, who was a brother-in-law of Mr. Levens. Jehial Carman in time bought one hundred and twenty acres of the tract "Levens' Hall." He finally emigrated to a place near Rich- mond, Ohio, and thither all of the family removed except the sons, Elisha and John Carman. John Carman removed to West Virginia, and Elisha lives upon the Levens' Hall property, which Jehial Car- man left to his grandson, William Carman, who is Elisha's son, and is now eighty-five years old.

Galbraith, Benjamin, and William Stewart were three brothers, who lived in Independence township as early as 1788, and all were blacksmiths by trade. Galbraith Stewart lived near Mount Hope Church, on the place later occupied by George Macauley, and now owned by David Buchanan. Benjamin Stewart lived on the road leading from Independence to Pat- terson's Mills, in Cross Creek township, and on the place Joseph Brown now occupies. His blacksmith- shop at this point was kept up until 1825, when Thomas White purchased the property, and also started a shop of the same trade. His shop did not occupy the Stewart site, as the house in which Mr. Magee lives was built upon that. No information of the brother, William Stewart, has been gained, save that he resided here as early as the others, and fol- lowed the trade of a blacksmith. Galbraith Stewart lived in West Middletown, and carried on black- smithing in and after 1795.

Matthew Mitchell came from Cumberland County,

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Pa., into Hopewell township in 1790, and June 29th of that year purchased two hundred acres of land of Robert Caruthers, a portion of the tract "Liberty," patented April 8, 1788. This land was situated in the . vicinity of Mount Hope Church, and is now the prop- erty of Samuel Cosner. Mr. Mitchell lived there until his death, which occurred in 1829, at the very old age of ninety-six years. Soon after the death of Mr. Mitchell, Rev. Thomas Allison came into possession of the prop- erty, and it later descended to his son, Matthew Alli- son. The Mitchell family has entirely disappeared from this vicinity.

Robert Cummings lived in what is now Independ- ence township as early as 1792, if not before that time. On March 6th in that year he purchased one hundred and twenty-one acres of land of William Spry. Again, Nov. 24, 1800, he bought two hundred acres of Thomas Sheirer, part of a tract situated on the waters of Buf- falo Creek, for which a warrant was issued Sept. 5, 1787. It is not known upon which purchase Mr. Cum- mings resided, but he lived so exactly upon the State line that one-half of his house was in Virginia and the other half in Pennsylvania .. He built a grist-mill upon his property in this township, which is now known as the " Applegate Mill." One of Mr. Cum- mings' daughters married William Stewart, a grand- son of Galbraith Stewart. He ran the mill for a time, and then Thomas Buchanan, a son-in-law, assumed its management. His daughter, who married Lewis Ap- plegate, inherited the property, and it now belongs to their daughter Margaret, who is a great-granddaugh- ter of Robert Cummings, who died on July 4, 1836.

Isaac Manchester was born Aug. 18, 1762, in Mid- dletown, Conn. In 1796 he left his Connecticut home and traveled into the Western country on foot, look- ing for a place to make a permanent settlement. He went as far as Kentucky, passing through this section on his way out. After a prospecting tour, Mr. Man- In the year 1800 there were living in that part of Hopewell township which is now Independence (as shown by the Hopewell assessment-roll of that year) the following-named persons, who followed vocations other than that of farming, viz .: James Brown and Robert Cummins, millers ; John Crutchfield, cooper ; William McCormick, carpenter ; John Brown, mason; Benjamin Anderson, William Stewart, Jonathan Bu- chanan, and Benjamin Stewart, blacksmiths; John Buchanan and Robert Wilkins, inn-keepers; John Cuthbertson, physician. chester returned to this township, then Hopewell, and purchased the tract "Plenty" of Samuel Teeter. It contained three hundred and eighty acres. He then returned to the East, and the following spring came back to take possession of his property, bringing his wife and five children, and also accompanied by Philip Jenkins, his nephew. There was a house upon the land, built by the former proprietor, and into this they removed, Mr. Teeter at the same time emi- grating to Kentucky. Mr. Manchester soon had a large acreage under cultivation. He had a large fam- ily of children,-four sons and six daughters. The ' son Benjamin went to the Western Reserve in Ohio. Ruth, who married Asa Crutchfield, Hannah, who married Pardon Cook, and Isaac Manchester all removed to Holmes County, Ohio. The daughter Avis became the wife of John Doddridge, and is now living in Wayne County, Ind., at the age of ninety- two years. Col. Asa Manchester, the youngest child, has always remained upon the homestead, where he death, Oct. 8, 1880, in his ninety-ninth year. He still resides. The house he occupies was built in

1815 by Isaac Manchester. It is located in a pleasant valley, and is one of the most elegant country homes in Washington County. Isaac Manchester lived upon this place for a period of fifty-four years, and died in 1851, at the age of eighty-nine years, honored and respected by all who knew him.

George Plumer came from the State of Maryland to this township when he was seven years of age, and for the first seven years of his stay here lived with an uncle. He then entered the employ of Richard Wells, working in the store at Wells' Mills, and was sent down the river with a cargo of flour from the mills. Mr. Plumer married the daughter of Richard Wells. Mr. Wells then purchased the George Sparks mill property and gave it to his daughter, Mrs. Plumer. Mr. Plumer refitted and remodeled the mills, which were after known as the Plumer Mills. They were in operation until 1870, when the dam washed out and has never been repaired. George Plumer purchased a part of the McDowell tract called "Fallen Timber," also the part of " Shannon Hall" now owned by James Magee. He finally became the owner of the " Flower Garden" tract. He died in 1877. His son, Jerome Plumer, still lives in Independence township.

Dennis Dorsey was a native of Maryland. In 1807 he came to Wellsburg, Va., then known as Charles- town, with his wife and six children. In 1809 he moved across the State line and located on a portion of the Widow Wells' farm, near the Forks, which is now the village of Independence. He remained there until the year 1813, and then removed to Fowlertown. His daughter, Mrs. Martha Leech, has been a constant resident of this township since her father came here in 1809, and she still lives in the village of Independ- ence. She is now seventy-nine years of age, and pos- sesses a remarkable recollection of the early people and early history of Independence township.

James Boyd, who was a resident within the terri- tory of Independence township for fully three-fourths of a century, and was one of its best known as well as most respected citizens, was the son of David Boyd, who settled in Hopewell township, three miles east of West Middletown, in 1787, from which place his son David removed in 1805, and settled in the west part of Hopewell, which afterwards became the township of Independence, where he lived to the day of his was born in the year 1782, in Cumberland County.

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

His first farm was about three miles from West Mid- dletown, in Independence township. 'He had a great taste for horses. David Craig furnished him the money to buy the team which he used when he started wagoning, and this team he paid for in silver on his return from the war of 1812. He first bought forty or fifty acres of ground, and after some years bought a larger farm. He was not brilliant or quick, but had good judgment, a clear memory, and robust health. Three weeks before he was taken sick he recalled events of recent occurrence as vividly as he did those of seventy-five years ago, showing that his mind was still unimpaired.

He was married three times, and had nine chil- dren. The last time he was married he was over eighty years of age. He was an elder in the Presby- terian Church of Upper Buffalo for nearly fifty years.

In 1819, Joseph Brownlee, a son of James Brown- lee, who lived near Washington borough, came into | harness off he still inclines to keep it on, and seems what is now Independence township, and purchased to have real pleasure in ministering to the bodily relief of any, and more especially when called to minister to the relief of those who were his friends and patrons in years long gone by. one hundred and eighty-one acres of the John Dod- dridge tract, called "Lexington," upon which he lived until his death. He died Nov. 16, 1867, aged seventy-six years. Of his children, Paul B. Brownlee Dr. Smith, of Brooke County, Va., had a large practice in this township from 1820 to about the time of Dr. Parkinson's settlement here. lives in Richmond, Kan. ; Joseph W. Brownlee lives in Cross Creek township ; David A. Brownlee lives on the homestead ; and Rev. John T. Brownlee lives in Dr. Ramsay was a physician who settled at Inde- pendence about the year 1836, but after a short pe- riod of practice removed to West Middletown, where he soon after died. West Middletown, in charge of the Mount Hope Church. The daughter Jane married R. Y. Melroy, and Esther became the wife of Samuel Moore. Both still live in this township.

The property of Thomas Swearingen was a tract of four hundred and four acres, called " York," adjoin- ing the tract of Thomas Shannon, and was granted to him on a Virginia certificate, dated Dec. 7, 1795. It was located in the southwest part of Inde- pendence township, touching the three lines of the township, county, and State.

Physicians .- Of physicians resident in that part of the old township of Hopewell which has since be- come the township of Independence, the earliest one of whom any knowledge has been obtained (and no doubt the first of his profession actually located within the bounds of the present township) was Dr. John Cuthbertson, who lived and practiced here sev- eral years before the beginning of the present cen- tury. He lived on and owned the beautiful farm now owned and occupied by Mr. Robert Vance. He was known as a man of large intelligence and influence in the community. His medical practice, which was large and laborious, continued for a period of not less than thirty years. He lived unmarried, his sister Sarah, or, as she was known in the community, "Sally Culbertson," being his faithful housekeeper till his death, which took place about the year 1828. The sister survived a few years longer, and at her death the estate passed into the possession of friends in the East. Another physician not less famed than Dr. Cuthbertson, who began the business of his profes-

sion in Independence township about ten years after the death of the latter, is Dr. Joseph Parkinson, who is still engaged in the practice of his profession in Independence township. He commenced the practice of his profession in the village of Independence on the 1st of April, 1838. For a period of almost forty-four years he has now continued in the same field of labor, and has had all the while a measure of practice as large as he desired. With a sufficiency of wealth to assure for himself and household a comfortable sub- sistence, living in a beautiful home, made doubly attractive by the æsthetic taste and culture of him- self and wife and daughter, he might retire from the toil of his profession without bringing censure upon his head from any source. But he loves his profes- sion and still perseveres in its practice. His enjoy- ment is rather in well regulated labor than in ease. At a time of life when most men incline to lay the

Dr. Robert Hartman, a native of Alsace, France (now Germany), studied medicine there and in Ger- many, and came to America in 1856, having previ- ously practiced a short time in Europe. He came to Independence in 1859, and has been in practice here from that time until the present.

Dr. J. P. Johnston is a native of Canton township, Washington County. He studied medicine two years with Dr. David Crise, and afterwards with Dr. A. S. McElree, of Washington, for one year. He attended two seasons at the Jefferson Medical College in Phil- adelphia, and graduated in 1879. In April, 1880, he located at Independence, where he has continued in practice to the present time.

Independence Village .- The land upon which the village of Independence has been built was a part of the two tracts "Pembroke" and "Shannon Hall," patented and improved by Thomas Maguire and Thomas Shannon. The first purchase for this pur- pose was made by William McCormick, who on Sept. 26, 1798, bought three acres of the "Shannon Hall" property, which was described as- "begin- ning at a post on the south side of the road lead- ing from Washington to Charlestown, crossing the road, and running along the line of the late Thomas McGuire. .. . " On Dec. 14, 1801, William McCor- mick bought fifty acres of land of Francis Maguire, which was adjoining the land of William Harvey. This fifty-acre tract was located just south of the

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INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP.

village site, and was conveyed to Mr. Maguire by Charles Wells, son of Benjamin Wells, and executor of his estate. Again, Oct. 14, 1802, William McCor- mick purchased fifty acres of the "Pembroke" tract of William Maguire. In the following year (1803) Mr. McCormick laid out the plat of the village, and on October 5th of that year an article of agreement with prospective purchasers was filed in the recorder's office by him, pertaining to the sale of the lots in the vil- lage he had laid out. The article was signed by Wil- liam McCormick, with John Cuthbertson and David Buchanan as witnesses, and provided that the lots should be 60 by 110 feet in size, and each contain one- fourth of an acre.

The prices for these village lots at the first sale ranged from $8.50 to $20. The names of the earliest purchasers and the numbers of their lots were as fol- lows : Philip Everhart, No. 11; Patrick Fowler, No. 9; Benjamin Stewart, Nos. 6 and 8; William Ma- guire, Nos. 13, 31, 32, 33; James Sellers, No. 25; James McMurray, Nos. 19, 21; Caleb Wells, No. 12; John Crutchfield, No. 10; Alexander Irwin, No. 26; John Cuthbertson, Nos. 3, 20; James Carr, No. 13; Samuel Davidson, No. 5; Robert Cummings, No. 18. Soon after making these preliminary arrangements Mr. McCormick died, and his plans were carried out by his widow, Margaret McCormick, John Buchanan, and Galbraith Stewart, who were the administrators of the estate .. The original name of this place was " The Forks," given it from the junction of two roads at this point, but where the village was platted it re- ceived the name of Williamsburg, retaining it until 1836, when it was changed to Independence.

Robert Harvey, a son of William Harvey, who owned the "Flower Garden" tract, married the widow of William McCormick, and for many years kept a tavern at Williamsburg. He finally became deranged, his wife left him, and he was taken to his sister, Mrs. David Archer, in Ohio, and died in 1840, while in her care. The first store in the village was opened here by William Gilchrist, who lived on the same side of the road that Robert Harvey did, and

Lower Buffalo Presbyterian Church .- The earliest also kept a tavern. · 'In 1816 he removed to Ohio, and · mention of the existence of this congregation is in the

died there. Some of the village lots changed hands several times. No. 20 was disposed of by John Cuth- · bertson to Robert Harvey, and Jan. 17, 1825, he sold it to Richard Carter. He, in partnership with his cousin, James Bell, built upon it, and opened a store near the Harvey tavern, where Jehial Carman now lives. A little later, John Bell, a brother of James, built a store on the hill where Mr. Leggett at present resides. In 1812 a man named Gregory started a blacksmith-shop on the main road, below the site of the present tannery. The log house he lived in was the one built by Dennis Dorsey, and, having since been repaired and weatherboarded, is now occupied by Miss Katy Baker. William Waters, a hatter, who came from east of the mountains, kept a shop in the field south of Jerome Plummer's present residence.

In 1830, Richard Carter purchased the tannery then in operation near the village of Williamsburg. He opened a store in connection with the business of the tannery, and carried on a very flourishing trade. Mrs. Leech, who retains a most accurate knowledge of the events and incidents of those days, says she has carried many pounds of butter to this last-men- tioned store of Richard Carter, which she sold " at a fip-penny bit a pound." Robert Shaw kept a tavern in Williamsburg from 1833 to 1836, when he sold out to James McCreery. McCreery kept this tavern about a year, when he purchased the hotel property and store now owned and occupied by William Leggett. This was the first brick building put up in the village, and was built by Thomas Potts, of whom McCreery bought it in 1837, and opened a tavern there at that time. He remained in that place and business for several years, when he sold out to Jesse Litton, from whom Samuel Leggett obtained the property, which has descended to his son, William Leggett, who is now proprietor of the hotel and store, and also holds the office of justice of the peace. Mr. McCreery died, but his widow still lives in Independence village, and his son, William S. McCreery, is postmaster at Wood- row, Mount Pleasant township. A man named Ephraim Johnston also kept a tavern in Independ- ence in 1837, at the lower end of the village, and continued to live there until after the war of the Rebellion, when he died.

The post-office was established here in 1836, and at that time the name of the village was changed from Williamsburg to that of Independence. Richard Carter was the first postmaster, holding the position for several years, and was succeeded by John Lane. James K. McConaughy took charge of the office in 1864, and is still postmaster. Independence village has, beside the post-office, two stores, several other places of business, three churches, and a fine school- house. A lodge of the Masonic Order, No. 448, was organized here, but has been removed to Patterson's Mills.

records of the Redstone Presbytery, which met at Chartiers on the 25th of May, 1789, at which time " Mr. Hughes declared. his acceptance of the call from Lower Buffalo and Short Creek." . A congrega- tion had been gathered at Lower Buffalo before this time, but no minister had been settled. James Hughes, the pastor above referred to, was a native of York County, Pa. He came to this county in 1780 with his parents, and in 1782 entered the academy of the Rev. Thaddeus Dodd, at Ten-Mile. Upon the suspension of that school in 1785 he went to study with the Rev. Joseph Smith, with whom he completed his course. He was licensed by the Redstone Presbytery April 18, 1788, and soon after received a call from the con- gregation of Short Creek and Lower Buffalo, Done- gal, Fairfield, and Wheatfield, and New Providence

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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

and South Fork of Ten-Mile. He accepted the former, as before stated, and was ordained on the 21st of April, 1790, and served in that capacity until the 29th of June, 1814, when he resigned. Upon the erec- tion of the Presbytery of Ohio in October, 1793, this church became one of the constituent churches. Mr. Hughes, after his resignation, removed to Urbana, Ohio, and became a member of the Presbytery of Miami. In 1818 he was chosen president of the Miami University, which position he held till his death in 1821, at the age of fifty-six years.

The church of Lower Buffalo was ministered to only by supplies from 1814 to 1819. At the first meeting of the Presbytery of Washington in 1819, the Rev. Jacob Cosad, who had been acting as missionary for the Bible Society for a year or two previous, received a call from the congregations of Lower Buffalo and Short Creek, which he accepted. He was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of Washington, which met at Lower Buffalo on the 5th of January, 1819. The Rev. Joseph Harvey preached the sermon. Arthur Scott was an elder at that time. Mr. Cosad served this church till 1827, when, on the 29th of April, he asked a dissolution of the connection, which was granted. At a meeting of Presbytery Dec. 30, 1828, Lower Buffalo and West Liberty applied for James W. MeKennan as stated supply, which was granted. At a meeting of Presbytery July 1, 1829, a call was presented to Rev. J. W. McKennan from the congregations of Lower Buffalo and Short Creek, offering a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars from each church. The call was accepted, and Mr. Mc- Kennan was ordained and installed over these con- gregations Dec. 29, 1829, on which occasion the Rev. John McClusky presided, and the sermon was preached by the Rev. John Stockton. The membership of the church at about this time was reported at sixty-five.

The Rev. James W. McKennan was born in Wash- ington borough, Sept. 2, 1804, being the youngest son of Col. William McKennan, of Revolutionary fame, and brother of T. M. T. McKennan, of Washington. He was licensed in 1828, and ordained in 1829, and in December of the latter year installed over the con- gregations of Lower Buffalo and West Liberty, as mentioned, and remained in that relation for five years, during which time his health became seriously impaired, and on that account he spent two winters in the Southern States and in Cuba. On the 28th of December, 1834, his pastoral connection with the West Liberty (Short Creek) and Lower Buffalo Churches was severed, and he was dismissed by the Washington Presbytery to the Presbytery of Cincin- nati, which included Indianapolis, Ind., and he ac- cepted a call from the First Presbyterian Church of that place. The duration of his pastorate there has not been ascertained. He was afterwards connected with the preparatory department of Washington College, and adjunct Professor of Languages in that institution. He died in the fall of 1861.

On the 21st of June, 1835, the Lower Buffalo Church extended a call to the Rev. David Hervey, who accepted and became their pastor, in which rela- tion he remained until Oct. 3, 1849. From that time the church was without a settled pastor until 1858. In April of that year a call was extended to the Rev. James Fleming, who accepted and was installed over this church on the 20th of May following. He re- mained until the 28th of April, 1869, when the rela- tion was dissolved by his resignation. His successor as a settled pastor was the Rev. J. Linn Reed, who was ordained and installed on the 15th of December, 1874, and who still remains pastor of this church.

The first church edifice of this congregation was built of logs, and was situated in Virginia, near the State line. A graveyard was laid out on the church grounds, which is still used. All burials of the mem- bers of the church are made in this old yard, which is well inclosed with a stone wall. The second church building was erected of stone, in 1822, on the ridge about one mile south of Independence. This church was used till 1850, when the present frame church was erected in the village of Independence. Among the early elders of this church were Arthur Scott, - Green, and John Armspoker. The pres- ent board consists of William Patterson, David Buchanan, James McConnaughy, William Leggett, Joseph Scott, and Alexander Adams.

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 204

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1216

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216